Trolley attachment.



UNITED STATES- PATENT orrr cn.

TROLLEY ATTACH IVIENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

Application filed May 17, 1905. Serial N0. 260,766-

To ctZZ 1071/0721 it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. ROCKWELL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Bristol, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented a newand Improved Trolley Attachment, ofwhich the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of devices used on the end of atrolley arm or pole to make contact with the trolley-wi re for thepurpose of conducting electricity from the wire to the trolley pole orarm; and the object of my invention is to provide a device that may beused in case of an emergency, as when a trolley-wheel is worn out orbroken when the car is at some distance from the depot of supplies; anda further object of my invention is to provide a device that may be usedto remove ice from a trolley-wire. A form of device in the use of whichthese objects may be attained is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the upperend of a trolley-pole with myemergencycontact in place thereon. Fig.2 isa view in central section through the same in a plane at right angles tothe plane of view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of theemergencycontact.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 denotes a trolley arm orpole, to the outer end of which is secured a harp 2. This harp ispreferably removably attached to the pole 1 and is forked at its outerend, having side arms 3. Each of the arms is provided on its innersurface with a groove or recess 4 and stops 5 on the lever 6, whichnormally hold the contact in place. The lever 6 is held in place by aspring-pressed latch-bolt 8, located in the frame of the harp and whichmay be withdrawn, as by a thumb-piece 8, secured to the bolt.

The retaining devices above described form no part of my presentinvention, as they are included in devices previously invented by me,except in connection with the devices to be hereinafter described. Iprefer, however, to employ the grooves and lever as a means of holdingthe emergency-contact in place. It

will be understood that even these grooves are not essential to thisinvention, as other means may be devised for accomplishing the desiredend.

My improved emergency-contact as a whole, preferably of metal of onepiece, is denoted by the letter a and includes laterally-extending feetor supports 7. These feet or supports 7 are arranged to rest within thegrooves 4 in the harp, and for the purpose of lightness a space 9 isleft between the feet. A wire contact 10 extends upward from thesupports, being preferably located centrally of said support, and has agroove 11 for the reception of the trolley-wire, and projectinglaterally from the sides of the wire contact 10 are guards 12. Theseguards extend outward sufiiciently to closely overlie the upper ends 13of the arms 3 of the harp proper to prevent the wire from being caughtbetween the wheel and sides of the harp.

In the operation of railway-cars driven by electricity supplied througha trolley-wire and an arm or pole the trolley-wheel is liable to becomeworn out when a car is at a distance from the stable or depot from whicha new wheel may be supplied, and this is frequently the fact when thetrolley-wire is coated with ice, as in an ice-storm, as at such timesthe trolley wheel often becomes quickly burned out. WVhen such an eventoccurs, it is customary to allow the harp or wheel support to come incontact with the wire for the purpose of conducting the electricity tothe motors of the car; but such practice is extremel y severe on theoverhead system as well as. the harp. It is the purpose of my inventionto provide an emergency-contact which is extremely cheap ofconstruction, so that it is practicable to equip every car with one ofthe devices. l/Vhen a trolley-wheel becomes worn out, one of theseemergency-contacts may be quickly inserted in place in the trolley-harp,and this affords a comparatively smooth means of engaging the wire forthe purpose of conducting the electricity to the trolley harp and pole.

In order to adapt the emergency-contact for various uses, the bottomwall of the groove 11 is rounded, as at 14:, on one side and is formedcomparatively angular. as at 15. on the opposite side. When theemergency-contact is to be used for the purpose of enabling the car toreach the stable or depot of supplies, it is placed in the harp with therounded edge 14. located in that direction in which the car is to move,so that the contact on the wire will be comparatively easy. If, however,the wire shall be coated with ice, then the contact may be reversed andthe angular edge 15 located in that direction in which the car is tomove, and this will be found an effective means for breaking the ice andremoving it from the wire. In fact, in most instances where the wire iscoated with ice it will be found of advantage to remove the trolleywheeland substitute my improved emergencycontact, which is just as effectiveand more economical than a regular ice-cutting wheel or any otherice-cutting device.

My improved emergency-contact will be found to possess many advantagesin the form of an ice-cutter over those heretofore employed, for thereason that its substitution in the place of a trolley-wheel enables thearm to press with greater force against the wire. This is caused fromthe fact that the emergency-contact is much lighter than thetrolley-wheel, and the weight on the end of the trolley-arm is thusdecreased, allowing the spring that forces said arm upward to force thearm with greater pressure against the wire. In devices used prior to myinvention instead of decreasing the weight on the end of the trolley-armthe Weight has been increased and the pressure of the arm against thewire thus consequently lessened. This is,

a disadvantage where it is desired to remove ice from a trolley-wire.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trolley-harp arranged to removably receive a trolley-wheel, and anemergencycontact arranged to replace said wheel and to be held againstrotation by the wheel-retaining means.

2. A trolley-harp arranged to removably receive a trolley-wheel, anemergency-contact having an upwardly-extending part provided with agroove for the reception of a trolleywire, and supports extendinglaterally from the contact and arranged to be received by thewheel-retaining means.

3. An emergency-contact made of metal and having an upwardly-projectingpart providing a groove for the reception of a trolleywire,laterally-extending supports therefor and guards to prevent interferenceof a trolley-Wire.

4. In combination with a trolley-harp having arms at its outer endarranged to removably receive a trolley-Wheel, an emergencycontactarranged to replace said wheel and to be entirely held and supported onsaid arms by the wheel-retaining means.

5. In combination with a trolley-harp having side arms with groovestherein for removably receiving a trolley-wheel, an emergencycontactarranged to replace said wheel and be held against rotation by saidgrooves.

6. In combination with a trolley-harp having side arms with groovestherein for removably receiving a trolley-wheel, an emergencycontactarranged to replace said wheel and be supported and held againstrotation by means of said grooves.

7. In combination with a trolley-harp having side arms with groovestherein for removably receiving a trolley-wheel, an emergencycontactarranged to be supported and held against rotation by means of saidgrooves,

said contact having an upwardly-projecting.

part with a groove for the reception of a trolley-wire.

8. In combination with a trolley-harp having side arms with groovestherein for removably receiving a trolleywheel, an emergencycontactarranged to replace said wheel, supports extending laterally from thecontact and arranged to be received by said grooves, and guards toprevent interference of a trolley- Wire.

9. In combination with a trolley-harp having side arms with groovesarranged therein, means for closing the open ends of said grooves, andan emergency-contact non-rotatably held and supported by means of saidgrooves, and an upwardly projecting part provided with a groove for thereception of a trolley-wire.

10. In combination with atrolley-harp having side arms each providedwith angularlyshaped grooves, means for closing the entrance to saidgrooves, an emergency-contact non-rotatably held by means oflaterally-extending, angularly-shaped supports located in said grooves,the contact having an upwardlyextending part with a groove for thereception of a trolley-wire.

11. In combination with a trolley-harp having branching arms eachprovided with an angularly-shaped groove, means for closing the entranceto said groove, and an emergencycontact havinglaterally-extending,angularlyshaped supports to fit the grooves in said harp, anupwardly-projecting part having a groove for the reception ofatrolley-Wire, and laterally-extending guards or Wings to preventinterference of a trolley-wire.

EDW'ARD D. ROCKWELL.

I/Vitn esses:

ARTHUR B. JENKINS, WM. H. BARKER.

